‘Very distressing’: Govt’s
4,500 civil service growth
By NEIL HARTNELL
Tribune Business Editor
nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
The Christie administration’s expansion of the civil
service by a net 4,500 persons
since taking office was yesterday branded “very distressing”
by a leading governance campaigner, who said it had failed
to produce improved public
services.
Robert Myers, a principal
with the Organisation for Responsible Governance (ORG),
said he was “mystified” why the
administration was expanding
the size of government when
the Bahamas needed just the
opposite.

Governance
reformer ‘mystified’
by Govt size rise
At time when Bahamas
needs ‘complete
opposite’
Expansion implies
$50-$70m Gov’t
wage bill rise
Arguing that the Government should instead be
“shrinking” the public sector,
he questioned whether Baha-

mian taxpayers were receiving
value for money from an enlarged civil service, given that
service delivery and efficiency
had shown no signs of improvement.
The extent of the civil service
expansion under the Christie
administration was revealed
earlier this week by the minister responsible for the public service, Shane Gibson, in a
House of Assembly address on
moves to ‘regularise’ employees on temporary contracts.
Mr Gibson said 1,513 persons had retired from the public service during the period
May 2012 to December 2016,
which represents the Christie
See pg b4

BAHA MAR construction project

Baha Mar damage to
investment standing
‘almost irreparable’
By NEIL HARTNELL
Tribune Business Editor
nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
The Prime Minister’s
self-congratulation over the
Baha Mar dispute outcome
was yesterday slammed by
the FNM’s deputy leader,
who argued that the Government had “caused almost irreparable harm” to
the Bahamas’ investment
reputation.
K P Turnquest told Tribune Business that the Opposition’s assessment of
the Baha Mar resolution
“differs significantly” from
the Prime Minister’s, who
described it as “one of the
most brilliant set of negotiations ever done in advancing the cause of the Bahamas”.
The FNM deputy leader, in particular, said the
Government’s intervention
in the court proceedings
to oppose the Chapter 11

KP: Govt
intervention hit
investor confidence
Bahamas reputation
‘will take some time
to recover’
But FNM ‘won’t
stand in way’ of
Baha Mar opening
bankruptcy filing by the
original developer, Sarkis
Izmirlian, had sent an especially chilling message to
other potential investors in
the Bahamas.
Mr Turnquest said his
discussions had revealed
that possible investors were
“concerned” the Government may take similar action against themselves, and
See pg b5

KFC managers
take strike vote
By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) president has
renewed calls for the Government to force employers
to negotiate new industrial
agreements “within a reasonable period of time”,
following a strike vote by
Kentucky Fried Chicken
(KFC) middle managers.
Obie Ferguson alleged
that the two-year failure by
the Bahamian franchisee,
Restaurants (Bahamas), to
conclude a new agreement
with members of the Bahamas Hotel Managerial Union (BHMA), a TUC affliate, had prompted the vote.
Arguing that his members had been waiting “well
over two years”, Mr Ferguson told Tribune Business:
“They took a strike vote
See pg b6

The Bahamas’ new fly fishing
regulations could drive away 90 per
cent of visiting anglers, research
has shown, with affecting a market
of “major significance” that generates almost 10 per cent of this nation’s stopover visitors.
A 2016 report for the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), which used the
Bahamas as one of two ‘case studies’ in its analysis of the economic
impact produced by recreational
fishing, found that 90 per cent of
foreign anglers only came to this
nation for the fishing.
Should the new regulatory regime have the impact some in the
industry fear, and make recreational fishing by foreigners in the
Bahamas too bureaucratic and
cumbersome, it could undermine
a tourism market that contributes
$411 million to national gross domestic product (GDP).
And, providing further evidence

New fly fishing regime
may hit 90% of market
By NEIL HARTNELL
Tribune Business Editor
nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

$4.20

Nine of every 10 anglers
only visit Bahamas for fish
Sector’s $411m GDP
impact of ‘major
significance’
Creates twice as many
jobs as commercial fishing
of recreational fishing’s importance
to the Bahamian economy, the
FAO report said it generated five
times’ the GDP impact, and twice
as many jobs, as this nation’s commercial fisheries sector.
While commercial fishing was estimated to produce an $80.114 million GDP impact, and 9,300 jobs,
based on 2013-2014 data, recreational fishing was found to sustain
18,875 direct and indirect Bahamian jobs.
Using data produced by an
See pg b4

The Bahamas was yesterday labelled
“the laughing stock” of the fly fishing industry, with one local captain and fishing
guide revealing his business has declined
50 per cent over the past year.
Captain Tom Albury, founder of
Ondaflycharters, told Tribune Business
that the Bahamas was losing its fly fishing
business to countries such as Cuba, Belize
and Mexico, having done itself no favours
with the new regulations.
“Cuba is killing us. We have a lot of stepping up to do. Places like Cuba, Mexico
and Belize are eating our lunch,” said Captain Albury.
“We’re the laughing stock of the fly fishing industry within the world right now. I
have seen my business go down 50 per cent
in the past year.”
He added: “Right now there is a mass
exodus of people that don’t want to come
to the Bahamas. Last January, I had almost
23 trips. I got calls for two trips this January, and neither one panned out.
“As independent guides we were starting
to feel the slowdown since March last year.
The lodges weren’t feeling the slowdown
because most of them were booked a year
out. Now they are starting to feel what we
felt. Some of those lodges are now down
35-45 per cent year-to-date. You do that
across the rest of the year and it might be a
pretty shabby year.”
The new fly fishing regulations came into
effect on Monday. They require anglers
above the age of 12, and who wish to fish
in the flats, to apply for a personal angler’s
license and pay a set fee.
Non-Bahamians will have to pay $15 for
a daily license; $20 for a weekly license; $30
See pg b5

PAGE 2, Friday, January 13, 2017

THE TRIBUNE

How to deal with disruptive workers
Every workplace and
executive can attest to having at least one employee
who continually gets under
their skin, wreaking havoc
in the office and undermining the authority of managers and leaders. Yet for
a variety of reasons, these
individuals - despite their
errant ways - are protected
and secure in their jobs.
The truth is that such ‘difficult employees’ often come
packaged in various forms.
Exhibit A defines the employee with a high skill level, but whose attitude consistently disqualifies them
from being counted as civil.
They usually carry with
them a strong odor of arrogance, and demean the less
qualified or skilled. They
know that their crucial role
in the company provides
them with sufficient leverage and license to be overbearing.

Exhibit B defines the employee who has such great
interpersonal qualities, and
is so well liked, that the fact
they have nothing else to
offer is always overlooked.
Every workplace has that
person at the boardroom
table who has little or nothing to contribute outside
of a warm smile. They are
helpful, kind and will bring
cheer to the office, but lack
any form of technical competence.
Exhibit C defines the employee who relies soley on
relationships and connections for job security. They
may be capable of producing, but refuse to make an
effort, leaning on the safety
net provided by someone
indebted to them for some
personal or professional
reason. Sometimes they
pompously parade through
the office, touting their
clout.

Here, then, are suggestions for managers when
confronted with these employees, so they can prevent
the company from being
pulled into an endless vortex of ineffectiveness and
frustration:

1.

Start listening to the
employee. Much of
the behaviour may result
from years of failure to
hear what they are actually saying.

2.

Provide clear
behavioural feedback. Each time an issue
arises with the employee,
be sure to immediately
engage in constructive
coaching to address the
adverse behaviour being
demonstrated.

3.

Learn to document.
Every meeting,
coaching exercise and in-

fraction, be sure to have
a consistent log of what
transpired and what resolutions were achieved.

4.

Be consistent. Do
not let things slide.
Every positive behaviour
must be rewarded, and
every negative action
must be addressed.
Establish and carry out
the consequences for
each action. Positive and
negative, be certain to let
the employee see a level
of consistency.

5.

Do not speak ill of
the employee. Too
often, the level of frustration becomes so high that
the manager/leader finds
every opportunity to bad
mouth and lambaste an
employee. This often
takes the relationship
with this employee into
a state of ‘no- return’.

People always talk, and
the employee will always
hear what has been said.

6.

Manage your own
emotions and remain
as positive as you can.
Convince yourself of the
fact that everyone has
potential, and every employee can be salvaged.
Look past their faults
and try to focus attention
on things they do well.

7.

Follow the company’s disciplinary
processes and be courageous. Sometimes, the
best thing you can do
for an employee is to
release them. A change
in environment may be
just what the doctor ordered to help them turn
around. Be brave.

• NB: Ian R. Ferguson is a
talent management and or-

ganisational development
consultant, having completed graduate studies with
regional and international
universities. He has served
organsations, both locally
and globally, providing
relevant solutions to their
business growth and development issues. He may be
contacted at tcconsultants@
coralwave.com.

Patrick Strachan

Sea Beach Estates, Yamacraw Shores, Seagull Gardens, Silver Gates Subdivision, Coral Breeze Estates
and Westridge Estates.
Mr Strachan is a past
president and Paul Harris
Fellow member of the Rotary Club of West Nassau.
He is also president of the
Cat Island Sailing Club Association, and a member of
the Salvation Army Board
of Advisors.

Bahamian realty firm enjoys 20th birthday
A Bahamian realtor
yesterday said it was celebrating its 20th anniversary.
Pat Strachan Realty Sales
Ltd was founded on January 2, 1997, by its manag-

west, the firm specialises in
real estate sales, appraisals,
rentals and land development.
Pat Strachan Realty
Sales said it focuses on lots

priced between $100,000$150,000, and homes in the
category between $200,000
to $500,000.
It acts as the exclusive
listing company for Southern Ridge Subdivision,
and has marketed and
sold properties in Winton
Heights, Twynam Heights,

Scotiabank partners with
University over calendar
Scotiabank
has
partnered with the University of the Bahamas’ (UB)
Visual Arts Department
to bring its 2017 calendar
theme,
‘Everything Bahamian’, to life through 12
captivating images.
The UB submitted a portfolio of images produced by

Visual Arts students, and
12 images were selected for
inclusion in the calendar.
Besides rewarding the winning students, Scotiabank
also made a donation to
the the Visual Arts Department at the university.
Leah Davis, Scotiabank’s
senior marketing manager,
said: “We are excited to
build on our existing partnership with UB, and so
grateful to have had the opportunity to work with such
talented young artists.
“At Scotiabank, we focus
our efforts on how we can
help support our communities in the most meaningful
way. We are proud of this
partnership with the University, and the opportunity
to help young people become better off, specifically
in areas like arts and education.”
Led by assistant professor Keisha Oliver, the
university’s visual arts pro-

gramme co-ordinator, the
two-week project engaged
students, who produced and
captured original responses
to the theme.
“This partnership has
been one of the department’s major experiential
projects to engage students
outside of the classroom,”
said Ms Oliver.
“This opportunity has really pushed the creative envelope for our students. It
allowed them to take their
creative process more seriously, whilst learning from
industry professionals. The
students are looking forward to developing their
photography skills and
working on similar projects
in the future.”
The final calendar features a range of authentic
images created by Jonnique
Beadle, Dwan Deveaux,
Minolta Butler, Sheena
Heastie, Shanteena Simms
and Nowé Harris-Smith

WHERE HIT
MUSIC LIVES
W W W .

1 0 0 J A M Z

. C O M

@100JAMZ242

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, January 13, 2017, PAGE 3

‘Major improvement’
in Christmas revenue
By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

Several
Bahamian
retailers
yesterday
reported
“encouraging” Christmas sales, with one
labelling the festive period as a “major improvement” over 2015.
The Bahamas Telecommunications
Company’s (BTC) chief executive, Leon
Williams, described holiday sales as “encouraging” for the incumbent communications provider.
“Christmas sales were encouraging this
year,” he said “We kicked off Christmas
with our first ever Black Friday Sale, selling more than 6,000 devices. As a part of
our Christmas campaign ‘Live in the Moment’, customers were eligible to win a variety of prizes including 12 cars, lifetime
service, jewellery, mobile devices and so
much more.
“Just in time for Christmas, BTC
launched ‘Flow to Go’, essentially providing the entire country with free ‘Flow TV’
on their mobile devices. Customers are trialling the new service until the end of January. Our stores are fully restocked and we
look forward to a promising first quarter.”
Jason Watson, Automotive Industrial Distributors’ (AID) vice-president
of operations, told Tribune Business of
Christmas 2016: “It was a major improvement over December 2015.” Apart from
automotive and outdoor power equipment, the company also sells housewares.
Another local retailer told Tribune Business: “I think we made out pretty good. I
think we were up maybe 2 per cent over last

BTC CEO LEON WILLIAMS

AID sees significant sales rise
compared to 2015
BTC chief: Festive period
‘encouraging’ for carrier
year. I can’t really put my finger on what
that is, but we were up and that’s a good
thing for business.”
Many Bahamian retailers generate a significant portion of their annual sales revenue during the busy Christmas shopping
period. While some retail segments have
reported steady sales, and even a decline
over the previous years, others yesterday
confirmed that trade was on the rise over
the Christmas period.

Bahamian exports off 27% during early 2016
By NEIL HARTNELL
Tribune Business Editor
nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
Bahamian goods exports declined by 27 per
cent year-over-year for the
2016 first quarter, according to data released yesterday by the Department of
Statistics.
The report said the drop
to $78 million was led by
the ‘crude minerals, inedible except fuels’ and ‘mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials’ categories,
which decreased by 77 per
cent and 58 per cent respectively.
“The categories that contributed the [most] to the
exports are ‘chemicals’,
which totalled 41 per cent,
and ‘food and live animals’,
which totalled 15 per cent,”
the Department of Statistics added.
Meanwhile, total goods
imports into the Bahamas
for the first three months of
2016 fell by 14 per cent compared to the year before,
hitting $641 million.
“The groups that had
the largest decreases over
the same period [in 2015]
were ‘chemicals’ and ‘miscellaneous manufactured
articles’, which declined by
34 per cent and 27 per cent,
respectively,” the Department of Statistics said.

And imports down
14% at $641m
“As it relates to major
groups of merchandise,
the category of ‘machinery

and transport equipment’,
which totalled $136 million,
accounted for 21 per cent of
the imports. This was followed closely by ‘food and
live animals’, which totalled
20 per cent of all imports.”

Entrepreneur taking
sheep tongue to stores
A Bahamian entrepreneur has enabled sheep
tongue to reach the shelves
of local food stores, after
finding a way to make it consumer friendly.
David Turnquest, owner of The Original Souse
House, said the idea of
Premium Processed Sheep
Tongue came from watching
his mother, Rachel, “battle”
with the meat for more than
20 years.
He decided to give Bahamian cooks an easier way to
prepare the dish,and applied
the philosophy: “Uncover a
problem, create a solution,
you can create wealth.”
After looking at the sheep
tongue preparation process
as a problem, he decided to
reduce the preparation time
from three hours to 30 minutes.
Revealing that he had little money to make premium
processed sheep tongue a
reality, Mr Turnquest said:
“I was told to formulate the

idea. Someone saw the potential and they were moved
to give to me, my company.
They helped get me started.
“There is no more boiling, peeling or cutting up.
You can go from my package
straight to the pot to cook.”
Premium
Processed
Sheep Tongue is now a product of Premium Processed
Foods. Mr Turnquest said
the raw sheep tongue form
has to be de-skinned, which
calls for an hour-and-a-half
to two hours of boiling.
This eases the removal of
the coarse out covering of
the tongue. After the sheep
tongue has been peeled and
cut up, the meat then goes
through a vacuum process
where the thick layer of fat
produced in the cooking is
stripped off.
Mr Turnquest says that
all this heavy work is now
done for the consumer, after his ‘ready to cook’ idea
took three years to develop
from inception in September

2009. It is now being sold in
food stores throughout Nassau, Freeport and Abaco.
“One package costs $35
and serves five 16-ounce
cups of souse. You save from
$20-$40, because the average price for one 16 ounce
cup is anywhere from $1215, depending on where you
buy it,” he said.
Mr Turnquest’s ultimate
goal is to have the pre-packaged sheep tongue accepted
and enjoyed worldwide. The
challenge is to achieve product certification by the US
Department of Agriculture
(USDA).
“Sheep tongue has allowed me to have a sustainable cash flow. We now have
other products, Bahamian
products that have been
identified that can do 10
times more,” he added.
Advising potential Bahamian entrepreneurs, Mr
Turnquest said: “You first
have to understand what
your objectives are, and then
always remember that your
business is as successful as
the plans you have for it;
your life is as successful as
the plans you have for it.”

New fly fishing regime
may hit 90% of market
From pg B1
online survey of 486
foreign
and
domestic
anglers,
conducted
by
Marsh Harbour-based V.
d’Shan Maycock, the FAO
report found: “It is evident
from this study that the
recreational fishing sector
in the Bahamas is of great
economic
significance,
generating
annual
expenditures
of
$527
million and contributing
more than $411 million to
the overall country’s GDP.
The sector provides more
than 18,000 jobs either
directly or indirectly.....
“Recreational
fishing
and other related activities
assist in generating ‘new
money’ into the Bahamian
economy. Although the recreation fishing sector only
accounts for just under 10
per cent of the overall tourism sector, its economic

impact is of major significance.
“Creative entrepreneurs,
the Government, policymakers and existing businesses can take advantage
of the economic opportunities that exist from the
recreational fishing sector.
This can include revenue
generated from taxi fares,
lodging, restaurants, other
recreational activities, fishing, etc. If lost, this would
have a significant impact on
the country’s economy and
the sector as it is estimated
to contribute more than
$411 million to the country’s GDP.”
The FAO study, and survey results, are required
reading for Bahamian policymakers, given the concerns expressed by a significant section of the fly
fishing industry about the
potential deterrent impact

‘Very distressing’: Govt’s
4,500 civil service growth
From pg B1
administration’s term in office, with 6,015 persons appointed over that time.
Taking these statistics
at face value, they mean
that the public service has
expanded by a net 4,500
persons during the Christie administration’s term in
office, and at a time when
the Bahamas’ fiscal position has become extremely

strained and beset by credit
rating downgrades.
Taking $12,000 as a
crude ‘average salary’ for
Bahamian civil servants,
Tribune Business calculations show that the 4,500
‘new hires’ have added a
collective $54 million to the
Government’s annual civil
service wage bill. If $15,000
is taken as the average salary, the total increase becomes $67.5 million.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE BAHAMAS
IN THE SUPREME COURT
Common Law and Equity Division

of the new regulations. The
requirement that there be a
guide for every two anglers
is seen as especially restrictive.
“Results from the survey
indicate that those who visit
to fish come for the primary
purpose of fishing, not for
other tourism activities,”
the FAO report said of the
Bahamas’ angler market.
“Based on their responses,
91 per cent said if they were
not allowed to fish, they
would not have made the
trip, while 5 per cent said
they still would have made
the trip and another 4 per
cent was unsure.”
Anglers were estimated
to spend $4,608, or $1,536
per day, on an average
three-day trip to the Bahamas, putting them in the
higher-yielding
stopover
visitor category. They also
tended to stay in this nation
longer, with almost onethird of survey respondents
saying they were in the Bahamas for six or more days.
And anglers are also frequent visitors to the Baha-

mas, with 64 per cent of survey respondents coming to
this nation between one to
three times per year. Some
15 per cent visited the Bahamas between four to six
times’ per year, with 13 per
cent coming more than six
times annually.
“The top three visited
islands for recreational fishing included Abaco (36 per
cent), Grand Bahama (30
per cent), and Bimini (21
per cent),” the survey said.
“Eleuthera,
Andros,
Exuma and Long Island
were the next four most frequently visited, and the less
frequently visited islands
included Inagua, Acklins,
Crooked Island and Berry
Islands.”
The FAO report called
on the Bahamas to treaty
recreational fishing as a
separate segment, distinct
from the rest of the tourism sector, so that it could
be properly monitored and
its economic benefits maximised.
“Anglers tend to be largely a tourist group account-

ing for just under 10 percent
of the annual stopover visitors to the Bahamas,” the
FAO report said. “Out of
those that fish in the Bahamas, 89 per cent are visitors,
6 per cent are second home
owners and 5 per cent are
residents of the Bahamas.
“It is recommended that
this sector be recognised
as separate and apart from
the overall tourism sector
for future management,
decision making and policy
updates. Currently, recreational fishing is categorised as an activity under
tourism. The Department
of Marine Resources only
issues licenses for tournaments and boats used in the
sector. For the most part,
the Ministry of Tourism
only collects data for arrivals of stopover visitors to
determine what activities
they intend to participate
in while visiting. However,
no information is collected
on overall expenditure by
these guests....
“By not clumping it as a
mere activity in the tourism

industry, recreational fishing - both offshore and flats
fishing - should be categorised as a separate industry
for proper accountability
and monitoring of this sector to determine growth
rates, patterns, actors involved and its economic
value and impact....
“Information gathered in
future studies should also
assist with research and
marketing efforts that will
help to improve the sector
for optimal benefit to the
recreational fishing industry and Bahamian economy.”
The FAO report said
some 8,389 jobs were generated by the Bahamian flats
fishing industry, and 10,486
by the offshore variety.
Flats fishing was estimated
to contribute $182.7 million
to this country’s GDP, and
offshore fishing a further
$228 million.
Commercial fishing, in
contrast, generated $68.001
million and $69.727 million
in export sales for 2013 and
2014, respectively.

The data indicates where
at least a portion of the $1
billion Value-Added Tax
(VAT) revenue ‘windfall’
has gone - on expanding the
size of the Government and
public service, as opposed
to narrowing the deficit and
paying down the $6.778 billion national debt.
With the 2017 general
election fast approaching,
the pace of public service
hires is likely to further
quicken, as MPs lobby to
find their constituents jobs
in the hope of securing
their votes.
And the 4,500-strong

public service expansion
will also further strain the
Government’s
unfunded
civil service pension liabilities, which are currently
covered by taxpayers in
every year’s Budget.
The KPMG accounting
firm previously disclosed
that unfunded public sector
pension liabilities, which
it currently estimates at
around $1.5 billion, are set
to increase to $2.5 billion
by 2022, and $4.1 billion by
2032, unless essential reforms are enacted.
Mr Myers yesterday told
Tribune Business that while
the likes of ORG understood the need to ‘regularise’ civil service employees
who have been on temporary contracts for up to two
decades, the Bahamas was
growing the wrong part of
its economy and workforce.
“In the same vein, we’re
mystified as to why there
would be an increase in
government employment,
and expansion of the Government, when what is in
fact needed is a shrinking,”
he told this newspaper.
“That’s very distressing,
especially as there’s been
no emphasis on creating
any level of accountability
within the civil service and
the public sector. That has
to change. We’ve got to become more efficient and accountable in government.”
Other fiscal hawks were
equally alarmed. Rick
Lowe, an executive with
the Nassau Institute thinktank, said the civil service
was becoming so large that
the private sector was strug-

gling to finance it through
taxes paid to the Government.
“They keep on increasing
the size of the civil service,
while making it harder and
harder for private sector to
grow,” Mr Lowe told Tribune Business.
“Sooner or later, it’s going to topple over. It’s completely unsustainable. It
gets to the point where the
civil service is so large that
the public sector cannot pay
for it, and sooner or later
it’s going to collapse in on
itself.”
Mr Myers said that
‘smaller government’ in the
Bahamas “doesn’t necessarily mean people losing
their jobs”.
Instead of adding to the
public service as a way to
keep unemployment under
control, the former Bahamas Chamber of Commerce
and Employers Confederation’s (BCCEC) chairman said the Government
instead had to facilitate an
environment in which the
private sector could thrive.
This, he explained, would
enable there to be a “reallocation” of jobs from the
public to the private sector,
with workers switching into
the latter rather than simply
being made redundant.
“An expansion of the civil
service at this point tells me
that someone has completely lost the plot,” Mr Myers told Tribune Business.
“What we should be doing
is the complete opposite.
“We should be shifting
workers. It’s not a retraction; it’s a realignment, and
in doing so you’re creating accountability and efficiency. We’ve got to start
getting these people to
understand that. It cannot
be business as usual again.
We’re headed down a very
dark path unless we reevaluate our thinking on how
the Government does business.”

Mr Myers argued that the
Government should seek
to outsource and privatise
services that could be performed more efficiently by
the private sector, with the
main objective being to create entrepreneurial opportunities and employment
for Bahamians.
He argued that improved
governance, and greater accountability and transparency, required not just ‘buy
in’ from the political class,
but the upper echelons of
the civil service, including
ministry, department and
agency heads.
Revealing that he was
treating the country and its
government as a business
called ‘Bahamas business’,
Mr Myers explained: “If
you look at the Bahamas as
a business, and are tasked
with fixing it, any good,
self-respecting
businessman and woman will go in
there and compare income
to expenditure, then start to
understand where you can
get greater efficiency and
performance, and how you
can cut costs. That’s what
needs to happen.”
While the Christie administration had expanded
the size of government,
Mr Myers said it had likely
produced little to no benefits for most Bahamians in
terms of more efficient and
effective public services.
“We’ve expanded government, but are getting no
greater services or efficiency from it,” he told Tribune
Business. “What are we
paying for? There are more
people, but are we getting
more or better services? I
would argue no.
“What are we hiring
these people for, on top of
the fact we’re spending way
more than our income. It’s
a poor reflection, and inversely correlated to where
we should be. In an environment where we should
be shrinking government,
why are we expanding it?”

2016/CLE/gen/00998

IN THE MATTER OF Property comprised in a Mortgage dated the 19th day of August A.D., 2003 between
Demetrius Turnquest and Gale Turnquest to FirstCaribbean International Bank (Bahamas) Limited recorded in
Book 8770 at pages 367 to 383 at the Registry of Records in the City of Nassau in the Island of New Providence.
AND IN THE MATTER of a Mortgage Action pursuant to Order 77 of the Rules of the Supreme Court 1978.
BETWEEN

TAKE NOTICE that it was ordered on the 25th day of November, 2016 by The Honorable Mrs. Justice Guillamena
Archer-Minns of the Supreme Court that the service of the NOTICE OF ADJOURNED HEARING OF THE NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT; scheduled for Tuesday, the 17th day of January, A.D. 2017 at 9:30 a.m. in the morning
before The Honorable Mr. Justice Guillamena Archer-Minns at the Supreme Court in Chambers situate in the
Ansbacher Building, East Street North, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas in the said action be effected on you
by way of this advertisement.
PLEASE TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that the said NOTICE OF ADJOURNED HEARING filed herein on the 6th
day of January, A.D., 2017 can be collected from the Chambers of the Plaintiff ’s Counsel as set out below.
AND FURTHER TAKE NOTICE that you must within fourteen (14) days from the publication of this advertisement, inclusive of the day of such publication, acknowledge service of the said NOTICE OF ADJOURNED HEARING by completing a prescribed form of Acknowledgement of Service which may be obtained on request from
the Plaintiff ’s Attorneys whose name and address appear below, otherwise Judgment may be entered against you
without further notice.
DATED this 6th day of January, A.D., 2017
HALSBURY CHAMBERS
SUITE# 548, VILLAGE ROAD NORTH
HALSBURY COMMERCIAL CENTRE
NASSAU, THE BAHAMAS
ATTORNEY’S FOR THE PLAINTIFF

THE TRIBUNE

to advertise
today in the
tribune call
@ 502-2394

COMMONWEALTH OF THE BAHAMAS

2016
CLE/qui/00074

IN THE SUPREME COURT
Common Law and Equity Division

THE MATTER of The Quieting Titles Act, 1959
AND
IN THE MATTER of ALL THAT parcel or lot of land being Lot Number Four (4) of Bilney Allotments which said piece parcel or lot of land is bounded NORTHWARDLY by Shirley Street and
running thereon Fifty-seven and Fifty-three hundredths (57.53) Feet EASTWARDLY by a portion
of Lot Number Three (3) running thereon Seventy-eight and Eighty-six hundredths (78.56) Feet
SOUTHWARDLY by Lot Number Thirteen (13) running thereon Fifty-seven and Fifty-three hundredths (57.53) Feet and on the WEST by Bilney Lane running thereon Eighty and Fifty hundredths
(80.50) Feet and situated in the Eastern District of the Island of New Providence one of the Islands
of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas
AND
IN THE MATTER of The Amended Petition of Stacey Algreen
NOTICE
STACEY ALGREEN, the Petitioner, claims to be the owner of the unencumbered in fee simple estate in possession of the piece parcel or lot of land hereinbefore described and has made application
to the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas under Section 3 of the Quieting Titles
Act to have the title to the said piece parcel or lot of land investigated and the nature and extent
thereof determined and declared in a Certificate of Title to be granted by the Court in accordance
with the provisions of the Act.
Copies of the Amended Petition and the Plan of the said piece parcel or lot of land may be inspected
during normal office hours in the following places:1.
The Registry of the Supreme Court in the City of Nassau on the Island of New Providence;
and
2.
The Chambers of James M. Thompson, Jr., Budget Building, Shirley Park Avenue, Nassau,
N.P., The Bahamas.
NOTICE is hereby given that any person having dower or right to dower or an Adverse Claim or a
claim not recognized in the Amended Petition shall on or before the expiration of Thirty (30) days
after final publication of these presents, file in the Supreme Court and service on the Petitioner
or the undersigned a statement of his claim in the prescribed form verified by Affidavit to be filed
therewith.
Failure of any such person to file and serve a statement of his claim on or before the expiration of
the Thirty (30) days after final publication of these presents will operate as a bar to such claim.
Dated the 6th.. day of , December, A.D., 2016.

Baha Mar damage to
investment standing
‘almost irreparable’
From pg B1
seek to strip their developments of agreed incentives
and assets if they did something it did not like.
“I think our interpretation or assessment of this
deal differs significantly,”
the east Grand Bahama MP
said of the Prime Minister’s
comments.
“He’s put the Bahamas
through a traumatic period
that was unnecessary, and
caused almost irreparable
damage to this jurisdiction’s reputation as a safe
investment destination.”
Mr Turnquest was referring to the Government’s intervention in summer 2015
to oppose Mr Izmirlian’s
bid for the Chapter 11 process to be given recognition
in the Bahamas by the Supreme Court.
Many observers, including former Prime Minister
Hubert Ingraham, believe
the Government should
have stayed out of the court

battle, and left it to be treated as a commercial dispute
between Mr Izmirlian and
the Chinese entities, the
China Export-Import Bank
and China Construction
America (CCA).
The Christie administration, though, argued that its
intervention was based on
‘sovereignty’, and that a dispute involving Bahamian
assets and hundreds of Bahamian creditors should be
dealt with by this nation’s
courts, rather than the Delaware bankruptcy court.
It also justified its move
on the grounds that the
Government was the second largest unsecured creditor behind CCA, while the
involvement of public land
and some $1.2 billion in tax
concessions in the project
also required intervention.
While this may have been
a valid argument, many
observers interpreted the
Government’s intervention
as evidence that it was ‘in
cahoots’ with China’s Baha

Bahamas ‘laughing
stock of fly fishing’
From pg B1
for a monthly license; and
$60 for an annual license.
The regulations also require a foreign vessel wishing to fish in the Bahamian
flats to obtain the usual
sports fishing permit, with
each person on the vessel
also holding a personal license.
The regulations also ban
commercial fishing in the
flats. Anglers are only al-

lowed to catch and release
when catching bonefish,
permit, snook, cobia and
tarpon. And a Conservation Fund for the management and protection of the
flats and fisheries resources
in the Bahamas will be established.
As reported by Tribune
Business, when the proposed regulations were first
unveiled, they created considerable controversy and
effectively a divide between

Notice of Appointment of a Liquidator under Section 204
of the BVI Business Companies Act.

PRIMAX SERVICES CORPORATION
(In Voluntary Liquidation)
Company No. 581531
NOTICE is hereby given pursuant to Section 204,
subsection (b) of the BVI Business Companies Act,
2004 that the Company is in voluntary liquidation.
The voluntary liquidation commenced on 17th
November 2016. The Liquidator is Sergej Schmidt,
C/O Landstrasse, Vaduz, Liechtenstein.
Dated 17th day of November, 2016.

Mar interests to oust Mr
Izmirlian, especially given
that its re-election prospects were heavily tied to
the project’s prior completion and opening.
They contrasted the
Government’s approach to
Baha Mar to the Ingraham
administration’s ‘hands off’
approach to Brookfield Asset Management’s takeover
of Atlantis from Kerzner
International, which involved a court battle among
the latter’s creditors.
While Mr Izmirlian’s
Chapter 11 recognition bid
was technically flawed, and
the China Export-Import
Bank would likely have
won the case by itself, the
Government’s
eagerness
to intervene in a private,
commercial dispute and
remove an investor it had
long backed was certainly
noticed by the international
investment community.
Mr Turnquest told Tribune Business that investors coming to the Bahamas needed to feel they
were “protected in a free
market”, and able to seek
redress for any grievances
through this nation’s investment and court processes.
“I remain steadfast in

my position that this is a
commercial transaction,”
he said of Baha Mar, “that
should have been allowed
to run its course through
commercial litigation.
“I don’t think there was
a need for the Government
to get involved in it, and it
caused damage to the Bahamas’ reputation as an investment destination, costing millions of dollars in
tax revenues for the period
it was closed and displacing
2,000 Bahamian employees.
“The damage that has
been caused, in our view,
has been unnecessary, and
it will take some time to recover the reputation of this
country
internationally,”
the FNM’s deputy leader
added.
“The impression out
there in the investment
community is that the Government intervened, rightly
or wrongly, in a commercial
transaction, and that brings
a level of concern among investors, many of whom feel
vulnerable investing in an
international destination.”
Mr Turnquest admitted
he had “no evidence” that
the Government’s handling
of the Baha Mar dispute

the 400 local guides and the
lodge owners.
Despite the controversy,
Bahamas Fy Fishing Industry Association (BFFIA)
president, Prescott Smith,
in a recent Tribune Business interview described
the regulations “one of the
biggest pieces of legislation
to come about since 1967”,
arguing that “closing the
loopholes” will increase
foreign currency earnings
for Bahamians.
But Mr Albury told Tribune Business: “I don’t think
anyone is against licensing
or that sort of thing, but the
enforcement is horrible.

“If we can’t enforce
things, then don’t make us
the laughing stock of the
world. It’s absurd. In Abaco
alone you’d need at least 10
boats and 10 officers. With
the state of our economy
that is not going to happen.”

had cost the Bahamas any
foreign direct investment
(FDI) projects or dollars.
Yet he added: “Speaking
to several potential investors, it is a concern.”
The FNM’s unsurprisingly negative assessment
of the Christie administration’s agreement with the
China Export-Import Bank
and Baha Mar’s new owner,
Chow Tai Fook Enterprises
(CTFE), is arguably premature given that no details
have been publicly released
for anybody to conduct an
impartial assessment.
However, there has hardly been an avalanche of
FDI projects and inflows
injected into this nation in
the Baha Mar dispute’s aftermath.
Apart from the project
at Children’s Bay Cay and
Williams Cay in the Exumas, other announcements
have included the Mediterranean Shipping Company
(MSC) transformation of

Ocean Cay; the proposed
Carnival cruise port in east
Grand Bahama; and Hutchison Whampoa’s $300 million Phase V Freeport Container Port expansion.
While the Children’s Bay
project is showing signs of
moving forward, the MSC
development is still largely
in the ‘pipeline’ phase.
There has also been little
substantive movement on
the two Grand Bahama investments.
Mr Turnquest, meanwhile, pledged that the
FNM would “not stand
in the way” of Bah Mar’s
opening under CTFE, and
the creation of thousands of
jobs for Bahamians.
“The opening of this
project is a good thing,” he
added. “We might not like
the deal as has been done,
and what it contains, but
we certainly won’t stand in
the way and begrudge Bahamians being put back to
work.”

to advertise
today in the
tribune call
@ 502-2394

NOTICE

NOTICE

LONG & LING LIMITED

WILLIAMSON HOLDINGS LIMITED

N O T I C E IS HEREBY GIVEN as follows:

N O T I C E IS HEREBY GIVEN as follows:

(a)
LONG & LING LIMITED is in voluntary
dissolution under the provisions of Section 138 (4) of
the International Business Companies Act 2000.

(a)
WILLIAMSON HOLDINGS LIMITED is in
voluntary dissolution under the provisions of Section
138 (4) of the International Business Companies Act
2000.

(b)
The dissolution of the said company
commenced on the 9th January 2017 when the Articles
of Dissolution were submitted to and registered by the
Registrar General.
(c)
The Liquidator of the said company is Bukit
Merah Limited, The Bahamas Financial Centre, Shirley &
Charlotte Streets, P.O. Box N-3023, Nassau, Bahamas
Dated this 13th day of January, A. D. 2017

(b)
The dissolution of the said company
commenced on the 9th January 2017 when the Articles
of Dissolution were submitted to and registered by the
Registrar General.
(c)
The Liquidator of the said company is Bukit
Merah Limited, The Bahamas Financial Centre, Shirley &
Charlotte Streets, P.O. Box N-3023, Nassau, Bahamas
Dated this 13th day of January, A. D. 2017
_________________________________
Bukit Merah Limited
Liquidator

(Signed)
Sergej Schmidt
Voluntary Liquidator

_________________________________
Bukit Merah Limited
Liquidator

NOTICE

NOTICE

NOTICE

EVER ACCURATE HOLDINGS LIMITED

FAITHFULNESS LIMITED

EGAS LIMITED

N O T I C E IS HEREBY GIVEN as follows:

N O T I C E IS HEREBY GIVEN as follows:

N O T I C E IS HEREBY GIVEN as follows:

(a)
EVER ACCURATE HOLDINGS LIMITED is in
voluntary dissolution under the provisions of Section
138 (4) of the International Business Companies Act
2000.

(a)
FAITHFULNESS LIMITED is in voluntary
dissolution under the provisions of Section 138 (4) of
the International Business Companies Act 2000.

(a)
EGAS LIMITED is in voluntary dissolution under
the provisions of Section 138 (4) of the International
Business Companies Act 2000.

(b)
The dissolution of the said company
commenced on the 9th January 2017 when the Articles
of Dissolution were submitted to and registered by the
Registrar General.

(b)
The dissolution of the said company
commenced on the 9th January 2017 when the Articles
of Dissolution were submitted to and registered by the
Registrar General.

(b)
The dissolution of the said company
commenced on the 9th January 2017 when the Articles
of Dissolution were submitted to and registered by the
Registrar General.
(c)
The Liquidator of the said company is Bukit
Merah Limited, The Bahamas Financial Centre, Shirley &
Charlotte Streets, P.O. Box N-3023, Nassau, Bahamas
Dated this 13th day of January, A. D. 2017

Dated this 13th day of January, A. D. 2017

Dated this 13th day of January, A. D. 2017

_________________________________
Bukit Merah Limited
Liquidator

_________________________________
Bukit Merah Limited
Liquidator

_________________________________
Bukit Merah Limited
Liquidator

NOTICE

NOTICE

NOTICE

BMK HOLDINGS LTD.

RAPIDA LIMITED

REFINE CITY LIMITED

N O T I C E IS HEREBY GIVEN as follows:

N O T I C E IS HEREBY GIVEN as follows:

N O T I C E IS HEREBY GIVEN as follows:

(a)
BMK HOLDINGS LTD. is in voluntary
dissolution under the provisions of Section 138 (4) of
the International Business Companies Act 2000.

(a)
RAPIDA LIMITED is in voluntary dissolution under
the provisions of Section 138 (4) of the International
Business Companies Act 2000.

(a)
REFINE CITY LIMITED is in voluntary dissolution
under the provisions of Section 138 (4) of the
International Business Companies Act 2000.

(b)
The dissolution of the said company
commenced on the 9th January 2017 when the Articles
of Dissolution were submitted to and registered by the
Registrar General.

(b)
The dissolution of the said company commenced
on the 9th January, 2017 when the Articles of Dissolution
were submitted to and registered by the Registrar
General.

(b)
The dissolution of the said company
commenced on the 9th January 2017 when the Articles
of Dissolution were submitted to and registered by the
Registrar General.

KFC managers
take strike vote
From pg B1
last week.
“They voted for a strike
on the basis that it has been
well over two years that
they have been trying to
get KFC management to sit
down and negotiate a new
industrial agreement.

“It is open to them at any
time, once I advise them
to legally withdraw their
labour. They have not, nor
the Ministry of Labour,
seems able to get them
[KFC] to come to the Labour Board to begin the
process of negotiation.”

Mr Ferguson added: “We
filed a trade dispute and had
several dates set for conciliation but, at the end of the
day, something always happened and the union was
unable to sit down with the
employer.
“When there is a failure
to negotiate a new industrial
agreement, then obviously
one of the options available
to the union is to strike but,
before you strike, ensure
that all workers are legally
protected if and when there
is a strike.”
Ash Henderson, Restaurants (Bahamas) marketing
director, confirmed to Tribune Business that the company was aware of the strike
vote, but it had no comment
on the matter at this time.
Mr Ferguson, meanwhile,
urged the Government to
do everything necessary to
ensure industrial disputes
were resolved fairly.
“We call on the Government to do what is necessary over general disputes,
which involve the creation
of new terms and conditions,” he said.
“The Government should
ensure that the process is
done fairly, and the Government ought to act as an
impetus to cause the employer to begin the negotiations within a reasonable
period of time.”

LEGAL NOTICE

Financial companies lead
US stocks lower; oil rises
AP Business Writer – Banks and other
financial companies led
U.S. stocks modestly lower
Thursday, wiping out much
of the market’s gains from a
day earlier.
Phone companies, real estate, utilities and health care
stocks eked out gains. Energy, technology and other
stocks that posted big gains
in the weeks after the November election lost ground.
Hess slumped 4.8 percent
and chipmaker Micron
Technology fell 2.1 percent.
Banks, which moved
sharply higher through
much of the postelection rally in November and December, were hurt by a drop in
bond yields, which can push
down interest rates on loans,
squeezing banks’ profits.
“The market has been
running pretty nicely this
year, so this is just a little bit
of a pullback, a little bit of
a consolidation,” said Troy
Logan, managing director
at Warren Financial Service.
“Anything that has run well
postelection has pulled back
somewhat today.”
The Dow Jones industrial

NOTICE

NOTICE

TAC Investment Fund Ltd. (the “Company”)

In Voluntary Liquidation

Notice is hereby given that, in accordance with
Section 138 (8) of the International Business
Companies Act, No.45 of 2000, the Dissolution of
TAC Investment Fund Ltd. has been completed, a
Certificate of Dissolution has been issued and the
Company has therefore been struck off the Register. The date of completion of the dissolution was
the 28th day of December, 2016.

Notice is hereby given that, in accordance with Section
138 (4) of the International Business Companies
Act, (No.45 of 2000), IMD Investment Fund Ltd. (the
“Company”) is in dissolution. The date of commencement
of the dissolution is January 12, 2017. Luciane Ribeiro
Moreno is the Liquidator and can be contacted at Rua
Afonsa Braz, 747, AP 41D, Vila Nova Conceição, CEP
04511-011, São Paulo – SP, Brazil. All persons having
claims against the above-named Company are required
to send their names, addresses and particulars of their
debts or claims to the Liquidator before February 10,
2017.

applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and
Citizenship, for registration/naturalization as a citizen of The
Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why
registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send
a written and signed statement of the facts within twentyeight days from the 13th day of January, 2017 to the Minister
responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147,
Nassau, Bahamas.

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that NELTA CHARITABLEIMBERT of Weybridge Road, P.O. Box N-7060,
New Providence, Bahamas is applying to the Minister
responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for registration/
naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any
person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization
should not be granted, should send a written and signed
statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 6th day
of January, 2017 to the Minister responsible for nationality
and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

NOTICE is hereby given that WIDNEL SAINTIL of Fort
Fincastle, North Street, New Providence, Bahamas
is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and
Citizenship, for registration/naturalization as a citizen of The
Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why
registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send
a written and signed statement of the facts within twentyeight days from the 13th day of January, 2017 to the Minister
responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147,
Nassau, Bahamas.

Logan said.
“Tomorrow is the big day
for a lot of the big banks,” he
said. “They’ve run up pretty nicely postelection and
through this year.”
PNC Financial Services
Group lost $2.85, or 2.4
percent, to $117.93, while
Zions Bancorporation fell
95 cents, or 2.2 percent, to
$42.97. JPMorgan Chase
shed 84 cents, or 1 percent,
to $86.24.
Companies issuing earnings forecasts also grabbed
investors’ attention Thursday.
Hess slid 4.8 percent after
the oil company said it will
take a $3.8 billion charge
in the fourth quarter. The
stock fell $2.99 to $58.85.
Other companies making
news also lost ground.
Mylan fell 1.4 percent on
news that rival CVS slashed
its price on a generic version of Adrenaclick, a lesser-known treatment similar
to EpiPen, which can cost
more than $600. The version
that CVS will is selling costs
about a sixth of the price of
Mylan’s EpiPen. The stock
shed 51 cents to $36.77.

NOTICE

MARKET REPORT
THURSDAY, 12 JANUARY 2017

average slid 63.28 points, or
0.3 percent, to 19,891. The
average had briefly been
down more than 183 points.
The Standard & Poor’s 500
index lost 4.88 points, or 0.2
percent, to 2,270.44. The
Nasdaq composite snapped
a seven-day winning streak
that delivered five consecutive record highs. On Thursday, the index fell 16.16
points, or 0.3 percent, to
5,547.49.
The market’s slide came
as investors looked ahead to
several weeks of companies
reporting their latest quarterly results. That begins
Friday, when several major banks are due to report
earnings, including Bank of
America, JPMorgan Chase
and Wells Fargo.
The latest drop in bond
yields weighed on bank
stocks Thursday. The yield
on the 10-year Treasury
slipped to 2.36 percent from
2.37 percent late Wednesday.
Beyond that, some traders
may have also been selling
bank stocks to lock in the
sector’s recent gains ahead
of Friday’s earnings releases,

NOTICE is hereby given that SHAVANO LAWRENCE
ESTIMA of Washington St., Nassau, Bahamas is

International Business Companies Act
No.45 of 2000

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS COMPANIES ACT
(No.45 of 2000)

THE TRIBUNE

NOTICE
International Business Companies Act
No.45 of 2000
NORFOLK INVESTMENT FUND LTD.
(the “Company”)
Notice is hereby given that, in accordance with
Section 138 (8) of the International Business
Companies Act, No.45 of 2000, the Dissolution
of NORFOLK INVESTMENT FUND LTD. (IBC
No. 169571 B) has been completed, a Certificate
of Dissolution has been issued and the Company
has therefore been struck off the Register. The
date of completion of the dissolution was the 23rd
day of December, 2016.
Cristiano Freire Amorim
Liquidator

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, January 13, 2017, PAGE 7

Pay gap between college grads
and everyone else at a record
WASHINGTON
(AP)
— Americans with no more
than a high school diploma
have fallen so far behind
college graduates in their
economic lives that the
earnings gap between college grads and everyone else
has reached its widest point
on record.
The growing disparity has
become a source of frustration for millions of Americans worried that they —
and their children — are
losing economic ground.
College graduates, on
average, earned 56 percent
more than high school grads
in 2015, according to data
compiled by the Economic
Policy Institute. That was
up from 51 percent in 1999
and is the largest such gap in
EPI’s figures dating to 1973.
Since the Great Recession ended in 2009, collegeeducated workers have captured most of the new jobs
and enjoyed pay gains. Noncollege grads, by contrast,
have faced dwindling job
opportunities and an overall
3 percent decline in income,
EPI’s data shows.
“The post-Great Recession economy has divided
the country along a fault
line demarcated by college
education,” Anthony Carnevale, director of Georgetown University’s Center on
Education and the Workforce, said in a report last
year.
College grads have long
enjoyed economic advantages over Americans with
less education. But as the
disparity widens, it is doing
so in ways that go beyond income, from homeownership
to marriage to retirement.
Education has become a dividing line that affects how
Americans vote, the likelihood that they will own a
home and their geographic
mobility.
The dominance of college
graduates in the economy
is, if anything, accelerating.
Last year, for the first time, a
larger proportion of workers
were college grads (36 percent) than high school-only
grads (34 percent), Carnevale’s research found. The
number of employed college
grads has risen 21 percent
since the recession began in
December 2007, while the
number of employed people with only a high school
degree has dropped nearly 8
percent.
Behind the trend is a
greater demand for educated workers, and the retirement of older Americans,
who are more likely to be
high school-only graduates.
The split is especially
stark among white men. For
middle-age white men with
only high school degrees

— the core of Presidentelect Donald Trump’s support — inflation-adjusted
income fell 9 percent from
1996 through 2014, according to Sentier Research, an
analytics firm. By contrast,
income for white men in the
same age bracket who are
college graduates jumped 23
percent.
Long after the recession
ended, many young college graduates struggled to
find well-paying jobs in a
slowly recovering economy,
and stories about graduates
working as coffee shop baristas abounded. But data
collected by the New York
Federal Reserve suggests
that trend has faded as the
economy has improved.
Yet few experts think the
solution is simply to send
more students to four-year
colleges. Many young people either don’t want to
spend more years in school
or aren’t prepared to do so.
Already, four in every 10
college students drop out
before graduating — often
with debt loads they will
struggle to repay without a
degree.
Rather, labor economists
say, many high school grads
would benefit from a more
comprehensive approach to
obtaining skills, especially
involving technology, that
are increasingly in demand.
“If the only path you offer
them is a traditional college
path, they’re not going to
be successful,” says Harry
Holzer, an economist at
Georgetown University.
Helping lift high school
graduates’ skill levels is
critical, given the many ways
they are lagging behind their
college-educated peers:
— They’re less likely to
have a job. Just two-thirds
of high school-only grads
ages 25 through 64 were employed in 2015, down sharply from 73 percent in 2007.
For college graduates in the
same age group, employment dipped only slightly
from 84 percent to 83 percent.
— They’re less likely to be
married. In 2008, marriage
rates for college-educated
30-year olds surpassed
those of high-school-only
grads for the first time. And
women with college diplomas enjoy an 8-in-10 chance
of their first marriage lasting
20 years, according to the
Center for Disease Control’s
National Center for Health
Statistics. That’s double the
odds for women with just
high school degrees.
— High school-only grads
are less likely to own homes.
Sixty-four percent are current homeowners, down
from 70 percent in 2000.
By contrast, three-quarters

N O T I C E
EXXONMOBIL EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION
FRANCE LIMITED
________________________________________________
N O T I C E IS HEREBY GIVEN as follows:
(a)
EXXONMOBIL EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION
FRANCE LIMITED is in dissolution under the provisions of the
International Business Companies Act 2000.
(b)
The dissolution of the said Company commenced on
the 11th day of January, 2017 when its Articles of Dissolution
were submitted to and registered by the Registrar General.
(c)
The Liquidator of the said Company is R.W. Rice, of
22777 Springwoods Village Parkway, Spring, Texas 77389,
U.S.A.
Dated the 13th day of January, 2017
HARRY B. SANDS, LOBOSKY MANAGEMENT CO. LTD.
Registered Agent for the above-named Company

NOTICE
EXXONMOBIL EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION
TURKEY (ONSHORE) LIMITED
____________________________________________
Creditors having debts or claims against the above-named
Company are required to send particulars thereof to the
undersigned c/o P.O. Box N-624, Nassau, Bahamas
on or before 13th day of February, A.D., 2017. In
default thereof they will be excluded from the benefit of
any distribution made by the Liquidator.
Dated the 13th day of January, A.D., 2017.
R.W. Rice
Liquidator
22777 Springwoods Village Parkway
Spring, Texas 77389
U.S.A.

of bachelor’s degree holders are homeowners, down
slightly from 77 percent in
2000, according to real estate data firm Zillow.
— A college-educated
worker is now more likely to
belong to a labor union than
a high-school-only worker
is, according to Pew Research Center. Unions have
played a key role in raising
pay for members. Yet just 6
percent of workers with only
a high school degree now
belong to one. Public employee unions, which often
represent teachers and others with college educations,
have generally maintained
staying power while large
industrial unions have deteriorated.
— College grads are more
likely than high school-only
graduates to contribute to a
401(k)-style retirement plan,
according to research by
Christopher Tamborini of
the Social Security Administration and Changhwan
Kim, a sociology professor
at the University of Kansas.
College grads contributed
26 percent more even when
members of both groups had
similar incomes and access
to such plans, their research
found.
Participation in 401(k)style plans requires decisions — whether and how
much to contribute and how
to invest — that can become
barriers for the less educated. That contrasts with
traditional pensions, which
automatically enrolled everyone eligible and provided

Asia Howard poses for a photo at St. Johns River Park at
sunrise, in Jacksonville, Fla. Howard was stuck in mostly retail
and fast-food jobs after graduating high school, unable to get a
job in banking, a profession she prized for its steady hours. After
further developing her career and computer skills, she landed a
job in mortgage lending that paid nearly double what she earned
in previous jobs. Howard is now studying for an associate’s
degree in business administration at Florida State College at
Jacksonville. (AP Photo)
defined benefits. But traditional pensions have been
rapidly phased out.
— College graduates are
more likely to move to find
work than high-school-only
workers are, says Enrico
Moretti, an economist at
the University of California,
Berkeley. Companies tend
to recruit more broadly for
high-skilled jobs than for
low-skilled work.
“College graduates are
essentially in a nationwide
labor market,” Moretti said.
All of this contributed
to a sharp political split in
the presidential election.
College graduates favored
Hillary Clinton by 9 percentage points. Non-college
grads chose Donald Trump
by 8 points, according to

NOTICE

EXXONMOBIL EXPLORATION AND
PRODUCTION FRANCE LIMITED

____________________________________________

Creditors having debts or claims against the above-named
Company are required to send particulars thereof to the
undersigned c/o P.O. Box N-624, Nassau, Bahamas
on or before 13th day of February, A.D., 2017. In
default thereof they will be excluded from the benefit of
any distribution made by the Liquidator.

exit polls. That was the largest disparity between the
two groups on record since
1980, according to the Pew
Research Center.
“These are some of the
largest (demographic) shifts
in recent years,” said Jocelyn Kiley, an associate director at Pew.
The gap is most pronounced among whites:
Nearly two-thirds of white
non-college grads voted for
Trump, compared with just
45 percent of whites with
college degrees.
Some of these trends
might eventually reverse
themselves if more high
school grads acquire the
skills needed for higherpaying work. Though many
middle-income jobs don’t

require college, nearly all require some post-high school
education or training.
What Holzer calls the
“new middle” includes such
health care jobs as X-ray
technicians and phlebotomists, as well as computercontrolled manufacturing
and some office occupations, like paralegals.
A typical X-ray technician, for example, earns
nearly $60,000 a year and
needs only a two-year degree, according to government data.
And these “new middle”
positions are typically the
same jobs for which employers have complained that
they can’t find enough qualified people to fill. Labor
experts say the U.S. educational system is failing to
help young people acquire
such skills.
If they know where to
look, high school graduates
can choose from among
numerous options for vocational skills training — from
two-year programs to online
courses to for-profit schools.
Yet many aren’t likely to get
much help from high school
guidance counselors.
Joseph Fuller, a professor
at Harvard Business School,
says counselors increasingly
focus on things like substance abuse, discipline and
standardized testing, rather
than on career advice.
Nor do U.S. high schools
funnel students into the
kind of on-the-job apprenticeships that exist in some
countries. Instead, Fuller
says, U.S. apprentices are
typically older workers upgrading their skills in areas
like construction. The average age of an apprentice in
Germany is 17, he notes; in
the United States, it’s 27.

N O T I C E
EXXONMOBIL EXPLORATION AND
PRODUCTION TURKEY (ONSHORE) LIMITED
___________________________________________
N O T I C E IS HEREBY GIVEN as follows:
(a)
EXXONMOBIL EXPLORATION AND
PRODUCTION TURKEY (ONSHORE) LIMITED is in
dissolution under the provisions of the International
Business Companies Act 2000.
(b)
The dissolution of the said Company
commenced on the 11th day of January, 2017 when its
Articles of Dissolution were submitted to and registered
by the Registrar General.
(c)
The Liquidator of the said Company is R.W.
Rice, of 22777 Springwoods Village Parkway, Spring,
Texas 77389, U.S.A.
Dated the 13th day of January, 2017
HARRY B. SANDS, LOBOSKY MANAGEMENT CO. LTD.
Registered Agent for the above-named Company

PAGE 8, Friday, January 13, 2017

THE TRIBUNE

GOP leaders look to early
health care bill, details vague
WASHINGTON (AP)
— Under mounting pressure from Donald Trump
and rank-and-file Republicans, congressional leaders are talking increasingly
about chiseling an early bill
that dismantles President
Barack Obama’s health
care law and begins to supplant it with their own vision of how the nation’s $3
trillion-a-year medical system should work.
Yet even as Republicans
said they will pursue their
paramount 2017 goal aggressively, leaders left plenty of wiggle room Thursday
about exactly what they will
do. Their caution underscored persistent divisions
over how to recraft a law
they’ve tried erasing since
its 2010 enactment, plus
their desire to avoid panicking the 20 million people who’ve gained coverage
under Obama’s overhaul or
unsettling health insurance
markets.
In an interview with conservative radio host Mike
Gallagher, House Speaker
Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said the
initial repeal and replace
legislation will be “the primary part of our health
care policy” and would
be followed by other bills.
Later, he told reporters at
the Capitol that while Republicans will work quickly,
“We’re not holding hard
deadlines, only because we
want to get it right.”
Senate Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.,
said the early repeal bill
would “begin to make important progress.” He said
Republicans “plan to take
on the replacement challenge in manageable pieces,
with step-by-step reforms.”
He set no timetable.
“Repealing and replacing
Obamacare is a big challenge. It isn’t going to be
easy,” McConnell added.
The leaders spoke a day
before the House plans
to give final approval to a
budget that would shield
the forthcoming repeal-

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky. pauses during
a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Republican-led Senate is poised to take a step forward on dismantling
President Barack Obama’s health care law despite anxiety
among some GOP senators that they still haven’t come up with
an alternative. (AP Photo)
and-replace bill from a
Democratic filibuster in the
Senate.
Stripping Democrats of
their ability to endlessly delay that bill — a tactic that
takes 60 votes to thwart —
is crucial for Republicans,
who have just a 52-48 edge
in the Senate. That chamber approved the budget
early Thursday by a near
party-line 51-48 vote, drawing a Twitter thumbs-up
from Trump.
“Congrats to the Senate
for taking the first step to

important thing is when
do you get 218 votes in the
House and 51 votes in the
Senate,” the majorities
needed for passage.
“He’s not a creature of
this place so there’s always
a bit of a learning curve,”
said the No. 3 Senate GOP
leader, John Thune of
South Dakota.
Obama’s law, which he
considers a trophy of his
soon-to-end presidency, has
provided health care subsidies and Medicaid coverage
for millions who don’t get

“Congrats to the Senate
for taking the first step to
#RepealObamacare now it’s onto the House!”
#RepealObamacare — now
it’s onto the House!” the
president-elect tweeted.
Trump, who enters the
White House next Friday,
has pressed Republicans in
recent days to act quickly
on annulling and reshaping
Obama’s law. GOP leaders
seem to be taking his urgings to heart, though some
have suggested his desire
for speed doesn’t match
Congress’ vintage lack of
agility.
Asked how quickly lawmakers could send Trump
a bill, No. 2 Senate Republican leader John Cornyn
of Texas said, “The most

insurance at work. It has
required insurers to cover
certain services like family
planning and people who
are already ill, and curbed
rates the sick and elderly
can be charged.
GOP leaders hope to use
their first bill to void and
rewrite as much of Obama’s
law as they can, but so far
they’ve provided little detail. Cornyn said in a brief
interview Wednesday that
the early legislation will
“push some of the responsibility and resources down
to the states and give them
more flexibility,” such as for
Medicaid.